Filesystem enhancements for unified file and object access in an object storage cloud

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment includes identifying an erasure code storage policy for an unified file and object storage system, determining a plurality of storage disks associated with the erasure code storage policy, retrieving disk health parameters for each of the plurality of storage disks, identifying a number of available outer partition storage blocks for each of the plurality of storage disks, and determining a number of erasure code fragments to be stored for a file within the unified file and object storage system before initiating an objectization process on the file, utilizing the disk health parameters for each of the plurality of storage disks and the number of available outer partition storage blocks for each of the plurality of storage disks.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to data storage, and more specifically,this invention relates to storing erasure code fragments prior toperforming objectization on a file.

Object storage enables the storage and management of unstructured datain the form of objects. Within this object storage, a process calledobjectization is performed on files within the object storage in orderto facilitate synchronization between metadata of the file and metadataof the object. Erasure code storage may also be implemented within theobject storage as a safety precaution. During erasure code storage, afile is broken into a plurality of erasure code fragments that arestored within the object storage. Currently, however, objectization isonly performed after verifying that all erasure code fragments have beenstored within object storage, which may delay object access within theobject storage.

SUMMARY

A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment includesidentifying an erasure code storage policy for an unified file andobject storage system, determining a plurality of storage disksassociated with the erasure code storage policy, retrieving disk healthparameters for each of the plurality of storage disks, identifying anumber of available outer partition storage blocks for each of theplurality of storage disks, and determining a number of erasure codefragments to be stored for a file within the unified file and objectstorage system before initiating an objectization process on the file,utilizing the disk health parameters for each of the plurality ofstorage disks and the number of available outer partition storage blocksfor each of the plurality of storage disks.

According to another embodiment, a computer program product for unifiedfile and unified file and object storage comprises a computer readablestorage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, whereinthe computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se,and where the program instructions are executable by a processor tocause the processor to perform a method comprising identifying anerasure code storage policy for an unified file and object storagesystem, utilizing the processor, determining a plurality of storagedisks associated with the erasure code storage policy, utilizing theprocessor, retrieving disk health parameters for each of the pluralityof storage disks, utilizing the processor, identifying a number ofavailable outer partition storage blocks for each of the plurality ofstorage disk, utilizing the processor, and determining, utilizing theprocessor, a number of erasure code fragments to be stored for a filewithin the unified file and object storage system before initiating anobjectization process on the file, utilizing the disk health parametersfor each of the plurality of storage disks and the number of availableouter partition storage blocks for each of the plurality of storagedisks.

A system according to another embodiment comprises a processor, andlogic integrated with the processor, executable by the processor, orintegrated with and executable by the processor, where the logic isconfigured to identify an erasure code storage policy for an unifiedfile and object storage system, determine a plurality of storage disksassociated with the erasure code storage policy, retrieve disk healthparameters for each of the plurality of storage disks, identify a numberof available outer partition storage blocks for each of the plurality ofstorage disks, and determine a number of erasure code fragments to bestored for a file within the unified file and object storage systembefore initiating an objectization process on the file, utilizing thedisk health parameters for each of the plurality of storage disks andthe number of available outer partition storage blocks for each of theplurality of storage disks.

Other aspects and embodiments of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken inconjunction with the drawings, illustrate by way of example theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a network architecture, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 2 shows a representative hardware environment that may beassociated with the servers and/or clients of FIG. 1, in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a tiered data storage system in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for unified file and object storage, inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method for initiating objectization after erasurecode fragment storage, in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary framework for monitoring data associatedwith a plurality of geo-dispersed disk drives, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary framework for sending an eventnotification to an objectization process, in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method for identifying disk data, in accordancewith one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description discloses several preferred embodiments ofsystems, methods and computer program products for unified file andobject storage. Various embodiments provide a method to optimize anumber of erasure code fragments to be stored for a file within aunified file and object storage system before initiating anobjectization process on the file, based on disk health parameters and anumber of outer partition storage blocks available within storage.

The following description is made for the purpose of illustrating thegeneral principles of the present invention and is not meant to limitthe inventive concepts claimed herein. Further, particular featuresdescribed herein can be used in combination with other describedfeatures in each of the various possible combinations and permutations.

Unless otherwise specifically defined herein, all terms are to be giventheir broadest possible interpretation including meanings implied fromthe specification as well as meanings understood by those skilled in theart and/or as defined in dictionaries, treatises, etc.

It must also be noted that, as used in the specification and theappended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” include pluralreferents unless otherwise specified. It will be further understood thatthe terms “includes” and/or “comprising,” when used in thisspecification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

The following description discloses several preferred embodiments ofsystems, methods and computer program products for unified file andobject storage.

In one general embodiment, a computer-implemented method includesidentifying an erasure code storage policy for an unified file andobject storage system, determining a plurality of storage disksassociated with the erasure code storage policy, retrieving disk healthparameters for each of the plurality of storage disks, identifying anumber of available outer partition storage blocks for each of theplurality of storage disks, and determining a number of erasure codefragments to be stored for a file within the unified file and objectstorage system before initiating an objectization process on the file,utilizing the disk health parameters for each of the plurality ofstorage disks and the number of available outer partition storage blocksfor each of the plurality of storage disks.

In another general embodiment, a computer program product for unifiedfile and unified file and object storage comprises a computer readablestorage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, whereinthe computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se,and where the program instructions are executable by a processor tocause the processor to perform a method comprising identifying anerasure code storage policy for an unified file and object storagesystem, utilizing the processor, determining a plurality of storagedisks associated with the erasure code storage policy, utilizing theprocessor, retrieving disk health parameters for each of the pluralityof storage disks, utilizing the processor, identifying a number ofavailable outer partition storage blocks for each of the plurality ofstorage disk, utilizing the processor, and determining, utilizing theprocessor, a number of erasure code fragments to be stored for a filewithin the unified file and object storage system before initiating anobjectization process on the file, utilizing the disk health parametersfor each of the plurality of storage disks and the number of availableouter partition storage blocks for each of the plurality of storagedisks.

In another general embodiment, a system comprises a processor, and logicintegrated with the processor, executable by the processor, orintegrated with and executable by the processor, where the logic isconfigured to identify an erasure code storage policy for an unifiedfile and object storage system, determine a plurality of storage disksassociated with the erasure code storage policy, retrieve disk healthparameters for each of the plurality of storage disks, identify a numberof available outer partition storage blocks for each of the plurality ofstorage disks, and determine a number of erasure code fragments to bestored for a file within the unified file and object storage systembefore initiating an objectization process on the file, utilizing thedisk health parameters for each of the plurality of storage disks andthe number of available outer partition storage blocks for each of theplurality of storage disks.

FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture 100, in accordance with oneembodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of remote networks 102 areprovided including a first remote network 104 and a second remotenetwork 106. A gateway 101 may be coupled between the remote networks102 and a proximate network 108. In the context of the presentarchitecture 100, the networks 104, 106 may each take any formincluding, but not limited to a LAN, a WAN such as the Internet, publicswitched telephone network (PSTN), internal telephone network, etc.

In use, the gateway 101 serves as an entrance point from the remotenetworks 102 to the proximate network 108. As such, the gateway 101 mayfunction as a router, which is capable of directing a given packet ofdata that arrives at the gateway 101, and a switch, which furnishes theactual path in and out of the gateway 101 for a given packet.

Further included is at least one data server 114 coupled to theproximate network 108, and which is accessible from the remote networks102 via the gateway 101. It should be noted that the data server(s) 114may include any type of computing device/groupware. Coupled to each dataserver 114 is a plurality of user devices 116. User devices 116 may alsobe connected directly through one of the networks 104, 106, 108. Suchuser devices 116 may include a desktop computer, lap-top computer,hand-held computer, printer or any other type of logic. It should benoted that a user device 111 may also be directly coupled to any of thenetworks, in one embodiment.

A peripheral 120 or series of peripherals 120, e.g., facsimile machines,printers, networked and/or local storage units or systems, etc., may becoupled to one or more of the networks 104, 106, 108. It should be notedthat databases and/or additional components may be utilized with, orintegrated into, any type of network element coupled to the networks104, 106, 108. In the context of the present description, a networkelement may refer to any component of a network.

According to some approaches, methods and systems described herein maybe implemented with and/or on virtual systems and/or systems whichemulate one or more other systems, such as a UNIX system which emulatesan IBM z/OS environment, a UNIX system which virtually hosts a MICROSOFTWINDOWS environment, a MICROSOFT WINDOWS system which emulates an IBMz/OS environment, etc. This virtualization and/or emulation may beenhanced through the use of VMWARE software, in some embodiments.

In more approaches, one or more networks 104, 106, 108, may represent acluster of systems commonly referred to as a “cloud.” In cloudcomputing, shared resources, such as processing power, peripherals,software, data, servers, etc., are provided to any system in the cloudin an on-demand relationship, thereby allowing access and distributionof services across many computing systems. Cloud computing typicallyinvolves an Internet connection between the systems operating in thecloud, but other techniques of connecting the systems may also be used.

FIG. 2 shows a representative hardware environment associated with auser device 116 and/or server 114 of FIG. 1, in accordance with oneembodiment. Such figure illustrates a typical hardware configuration ofa workstation having a central processing unit 210, such as amicroprocessor, and a number of other units interconnected via a systembus 212.

The workstation shown in FIG. 2 includes a Random Access Memory (RAM)214, Read Only Memory (ROM) 216, an I/O adapter 218 for connectingperipheral devices such as disk storage units 220 to the bus 212, a userinterface adapter 222 for connecting a keyboard 224, a mouse 226, aspeaker 228, a microphone 232, and/or other user interface devices suchas a touch screen and a digital camera (not shown) to the bus 212,communication adapter 234 for connecting the workstation to acommunication network 235 (e.g., a data processing network) and adisplay adapter 236 for connecting the bus 212 to a display device 238.

The workstation may have resident thereon an operating system such asthe Microsoft Windows® Operating System (OS), a MAC OS, a UNIX OS, etc.It will be appreciated that a preferred embodiment may also beimplemented on platforms and operating systems other than thosementioned. A preferred embodiment may be written using XML, C, and/orC++ language, or other programming languages, along with an objectoriented programming methodology. Object oriented programming (OOP),which has become increasingly used to develop complex applications, maybe used.

Now referring to FIG. 3, a storage system 300 is shown according to oneembodiment. Note that some of the elements shown in FIG. 3 may beimplemented as hardware and/or software, according to variousembodiments. The storage system 300 may include a storage system manager312 for communicating with a plurality of media on at least one higherstorage tier 302 and at least one lower storage tier 306. The higherstorage tier(s) 302 preferably may include one or more random accessand/or direct access media 304, such as hard disks in hard disk drives(HDDs), nonvolatile memory (NVM), solid state memory in solid statedrives (SSDs), flash memory, SSD arrays, flash memory arrays, etc.,and/or others noted herein or known in the art. The lower storagetier(s) 306 may preferably include one or more lower performing storagemedia 308, including sequential access media such as magnetic tape intape drives and/or optical media, slower accessing HDDs, sloweraccessing SSDs, etc., and/or others noted herein or known in the art.One or more additional storage tiers 316 may include any combination ofstorage memory media as desired by a designer of the system 300. Also,any of the higher storage tiers 302 and/or the lower storage tiers 306may include some combination of storage devices and/or storage media.

The storage system manager 312 may communicate with the storage media304, 308 on the higher storage tier(s) 302 and lower storage tier(s) 306through a network 310, such as a storage area network (SAN), as shown inFIG. 3, or some other suitable network type. The storage system manager312 may also communicate with one or more host systems (not shown)through a host interface 314, which may or may not be a part of thestorage system manager 312. The storage system manager 312 and/or anyother component of the storage system 300 may be implemented in hardwareand/or software, and may make use of a processor (not shown) forexecuting commands of a type known in the art, such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. Of course, anyarrangement of a storage system may be used, as will be apparent tothose of skill in the art upon reading the present description.

In more embodiments, the storage system 300 may include any number ofdata storage tiers, and may include the same or different storage memorymedia within each storage tier. For example, each data storage tier mayinclude the same type of storage memory media, such as HDDs, SSDs,sequential access media (tape in tape drives, optical disk in opticaldisk drives, etc.), direct access media (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.), or anycombination of media storage types. In one such configuration, a higherstorage tier 302, may include a majority of SSD storage media forstoring data in a higher performing storage environment, and remainingstorage tiers, including lower storage tier 306 and additional storagetiers 316 may include any combination of SSDs, HDDs, tape drives, etc.,for storing data in a lower performing storage environment. In this way,more frequently accessed data, data having a higher priority, dataneeding to be accessed more quickly, etc., may be stored to the higherstorage tier 302, while data not having one of these attributes may bestored to the additional storage tiers 316, including lower storage tier306. Of course, one of skill in the art, upon reading the presentdescriptions, may devise many other combinations of storage media typesto implement into different storage schemes, according to theembodiments presented herein.

According to some embodiments, the storage system (such as 300) mayinclude logic configured to receive a request to open a data set, logicconfigured to determine if the requested data set is stored to a lowerstorage tier 306 of a tiered data storage system 300 in multipleassociated portions, logic configured to move each associated portion ofthe requested data set to a higher storage tier 302 of the tiered datastorage system 300, and logic configured to assemble the requested dataset on the higher storage tier 302 of the tiered data storage system 300from the associated portions.

Of course, this logic may be implemented as a method on any deviceand/or system or as a computer program product, according to variousembodiments.

Now referring to FIG. 4, a flowchart of a method 400 is shown accordingto one embodiment. The method 400 may be performed in accordance withthe present invention in any of the environments depicted in FIGS. 1-3,6, and 7, among others, in various embodiments. Of course, more or lessoperations than those specifically described in FIG. 4 may be includedin method 400, as would be understood by one of skill in the art uponreading the present descriptions.

Each of the steps of the method 400 may be performed by any suitablecomponent of the operating environment. For example, in variousembodiments, the method 400 may be partially or entirely performed byone or more servers, computers, or some other device having one or moreprocessors therein. The processor, e.g., processing circuit(s), chip(s),and/or module(s) implemented in hardware and/or software, and preferablyhaving at least one hardware component may be utilized in any device toperform one or more steps of the method 400. Illustrative processorsinclude, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), etc., combinations thereof, or any other suitablecomputing device known in the art.

As shown in FIG. 4, method 400 may initiate with operation 402, where anerasure code storage policy is identified for a unified file and objectstorage system. In one embodiment, the unified file and object storagesystem may include a unified file and object storage architecture. Inanother embodiment, the unified file and object storage architecture mayinclude a plurality of storage nodes distributed within a plurality ofnode groups. For example, the storage nodes may include one or moreproxy nodes that are used for distributed load handling and/or requesthandling. In another example, the storage nodes may include one or morestorage nodes that write data to storage disks and storage subsystems.

Additionally, in one embodiment, the erasure code storage policy may beassociated with erasure coding within the unified file and objectstorage system. For example, the erasure coding may include a means ofdata protection. In another example, the erasure coding may includebreaking an instance of data (e.g. a file, etc.) into a plurality oferasure code fragments, and storing each of the plurality of erasurecode fragments on storage disks within the unified file and objectstorage system. In yet another example, the erasure coding may enable areconstruction of corrupted data, using all or a portion of thefragments.

Further, in one embodiment, the erasure code storage policy may indicatea minimum number of fragments necessary to reconstruct data. Forexample, an “X/Y” erasure code storage policy may indicate that a datafile is broken into X fragments to be stored within the unified file andobject storage system, and Y fragments are necessary to reconstruct thedata file. In another embodiment, the unified file and object storagesystem may support unified file and object access. For example, theunified file and object storage system may allow the accessing of datausing object as well as file interfaces.

Further still, method 400 may proceed with operation 404, where aplurality of storage disks associated with the erasure code storagepolicy are determined. In one embodiment, each of the plurality ofstorage disks may include a hard disk drive (HDD). In anotherembodiment, each of the plurality of storage disks may be located withinthe unified file and object storage system.

Also, in one embodiment, each of the plurality of storage disks may belocated within a storage pool of the unified file and object storagesystem, where the storage pool is associated with the erasure codestorage policy. For example, each storage disk that supports the erasurecode storage policy may have an associated tag indicating the support.In this way, identifying the plurality of storage disks may includeidentifying the associated tag of each of the plurality of storagedisks. In another example, a first plurality of storage disks maysupport a first erasure code storage policy and may be located within afirst storage pool of the unified file and object storage system, whilea second plurality of storage disks may support a second erasure codestorage policy and may be located within a second storage pool of theunified file and object storage system.

In addition, method 400 may proceed with operation 406, where diskhealth parameters are retrieved for each of the plurality of storagedisks. In one embodiment, retrieving the disk health parameters mayinclude requesting disk health parameters from a monitoring systemincluded in each of the storage disks. For example, the monitoringsystem may include a self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology(SMART) system.

Furthermore, in one embodiment, the health parameters may include anydata associated with a physical health of a storage disk. For example,the health parameters may include one or more of a read error rate, aseek error rate, a reallocated sectors count, a throughput performance,a spin retry count, a reported number of uncorrectable errors, a commandtimeout, etc. In another embodiment, enclosure numbers and/or diskidentifiers may be identified for each of the plurality of storage disksin order to identify any disk replacements.

Further still, method 400 may proceed with operation 408, where a numberof available outer partition storage blocks are identified for each ofthe plurality of storage disks. In one embodiment, the outer partitionstorage blocks may include storage blocks located within an outerpartition of a storage disk. For example, the outer partition storageblocks may be located at a predetermined area within the storage disk(e.g., each block within the storage disk may be labeled as an outerpartition storage block or an inner partition storage block).

Also, in one embodiment, the outer partition storage blocks may belocated further from the spindle of the storage disk than innerpartition storage blocks. In another embodiment, the outer partitionstorage blocks may be located at or beyond a predetermined distance fromthe spindle of the storage disk.

Additionally, in one embodiment, identifying the number of availableouter partition storage blocks may include determining a number ofstorage blocks necessary to store an erasure code fragment within astorage disk. In another embodiment, identifying the number of availableouter partition storage blocks may include determining, for each of thestorage disks, whether the number of outer partition storage blocksavailable for the storage disk is equal to or greater than the number ofstorage blocks necessary to store the erasure code fragment within thestorage disk.

Further, method 400 may proceed with operation 410, where a number oferasure code fragments to be stored for a file within the unified fileand object storage system before initiating an objectization process onthe file is determined, utilizing the disk health parameters for each ofthe plurality of storage disks and the number of outer partition storageblocks available for each of the plurality of storage disks. In oneembodiment, the objectization process may include the conversion of thefile to an object. For example, the file may be received from a fileinterface (e.g., POSIX®, NFS®, CIFS®, etc.), and the object may includea standard format of the unified file and object storage system.

Further still, in one embodiment, the objectization process may ensuresynchronization between metadata of the file and metadata of the objectat a predetermined time interval. For example, the objectization processmay enable an accurate listing of the object within the unified file andobject storage system. In another embodiment, the objectization processmay include performing a plurality of steps on the file. For example,the objectization process may include calculating an Etag, a creationtime, and a size of the object. In another example, the objectizationprocess may include updating object details to a container database. Inyet another example, the objectization process may include updatingxattr data and metadata of the object using the updated object details.

Also, in one embodiment, the file may be broken into a plurality oferasure code fragments. For example, each of the plurality of erasurecode fragments may be stored on storage disks within the unified fileand object storage system. In another embodiment, the number of erasurecode fragments may include a subset of the total plurality of erasurecode fragments. For example, the subset may include a minimum number oferasure code fragments that need to be stored on storage disks withinthe unified file and object storage system in order to performsuccessful objectization for the file.

In addition, in one embodiment, disk health parameters indicating thatthe one or more storage disks are healthy may reduce a number of erasurecode fragments to be stored before initiating the objectization process,when compared to disk health parameters indicating that the one or morestorage disks are unhealthy. In another embodiment, a greater number ofavailable outer partition storage blocks may reduce a number of erasurecode fragments to be stored before initiating the objectization process,when compared to a lesser number of available outer partition storageblocks.

In this way, a reduced number of erasure code fragments may need to bestored within the unified file and object storage system for a filebefore objectization may be successfully performed on the file. This mayimprove the performance of the objectization process, reduce powerconsumption of the unified file and object storage system, expediteobject access within the unified file and object storage system, etc.

Now referring to FIG. 5, a flowchart of a method 500 for initiatingobjectization after erasure code fragment storage is shown according toone embodiment. The method 500 may be performed in accordance with thepresent invention in any of the environments depicted in FIGS. 1-3, 6,and 7, among others, in various embodiments. Of course, more or lessoperations than those specifically described in FIG. 5 may be includedin method 500, as would be understood by one of skill in the art uponreading the present descriptions.

Each of the steps of the method 500 may be performed by any suitablecomponent of the operating environment. For example, in variousembodiments, the method 500 may be partially or entirely performed byone or more servers, computers, or some other device having one or moreprocessors therein. The processor, e.g., processing circuit(s), chip(s),and/or module(s) implemented in hardware and/or software, and preferablyhaving at least one hardware component may be utilized in any device toperform one or more steps of the method 500. Illustrative processorsinclude, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), etc., combinations thereof, or any other suitablecomputing device known in the art.

As shown in FIG. 5, method 500 may initiate with operation 502, where acreation of a file is identified within a unified file and objectstorage system. In one embodiment, the file may be received by theunified file and object storage system. In another embodiment, the filemay be created within the unified file and object storage system. In yetanother embodiment, the file may be created utilizing a file interface(e.g., POSIX®, NFS®, CIFS®, etc.).

Additionally, method 500 may proceed with operation 504, where the fileis broken into a plurality of erasure code fragments within the unifiedfile and object storage system. In one embodiment, each of the pluralityof erasure code fragments may have a predetermined size. In anotherembodiment, each of the plurality of erasure code fragments may have thesame size.

In one embodiment, erasure coding may include a method of dataprotection in which data is broken into fragments. These fragments maybe expanded and encoded with a configurable number of redundant piecesof data, and may be stored across different locations, such as disks,storage nodes or geographical locations. One goal of erasure coding maybe to enable data that becomes corrupted to be reconstructed by usinginformation about the data that is stored elsewhere in the array—or evenin another location.

Further, method 500 may proceed with operation 506, where a subset ofthe plurality of erasure code fragments are stored within the unifiedfile and object storage system. In one embodiment, each of the erasurecode fragments within the subset may be sent to one of a plurality ofstorage disks of the unified file and object storage system via afilesystem layer of the unified file and object storage system.

In one embodiment, shingled recording may be utilized to store thesubset of the plurality of erasure code fragments within the unifiedfile and object storage system. For example, conventional hard diskdrives may record data by writing non-overlapping magnetic tracksparallel to each other, while shingled recording may write new tracksthat overlap part of the previously written magnetic track, which mayleave the previous track thinner and may allow for higher track density.In this way, the tracks may partially overlap (similar to roofshingles).

Further still, method 500 may proceed with operation 508, where it isdetermined that a current number of stored erasure code fragments withinthe subset meets a predetermined number. In one embodiment, anacknowledgement may be received from each of a plurality of disks inresponse to an erasure code fragment being stored on the disk. Inanother embodiment, the total number of received acknowledgements may becompared to the predetermined number. In yet another embodiment, a countmay be incremented as each acknowledgement is received, and the countmay be compared to the predetermined number.

Also, in one embodiment, the predetermined number may be calculatedutilizing an erasure code storage policy, disk health parameters foreach of a plurality of storage disks within the unified file and objectstorage system, and a number of outer partition storage blocks availablefor each of the plurality of storage disks within the unified file andobject storage system.

In addition, method 500 may proceed with operation 510, whereobjectization for the file is initiated within the unified file andobject storage system, in response to the determining. In oneembodiment, an object_close( ) event notification may be sent to anobjectizer process within the unified file and object storage system, inresponse to the determining. In another embodiment, the receipt of theobject_close( ) event notification may initiate the objectization of thefile by the objectizer process.

In one embodiment, objectization may include a method to convert filesingested from the file interface (e.g., via POSIX®, NFS®, CIFS®, etc.)to objects (which can be consumed by an object store) on a unified fileand object access enabled namespace. When new files are added from thefile interface, they may to be exposed to the object store databases inorder to have a correct listing and statistics. The objectizationprocess may ensure synchronization between the file metadata and theobject metadata at a predefined time interval, which in turn may ensurean accurate listing. This methodology may be used in setups where datais ingested using legacy file applications and needs to be stored andaccessed over the cloud using the object interface.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary framework 600 for monitoring dataassociated with a plurality of geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N. Asshown in FIG. 6, an object scheduler 604 is in communication with theplurality of geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N. In one embodiment, eachof the plurality of geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N may include a harddisk drive (HDD). In another embodiment, the plurality of geo-disperseddisk drives 602A-N may be located in different physical locations.

Additionally, in one embodiment, each of the geo-dispersed disk drives602A-N may be determined to be associated with an erasure code storagepolicy. In another embodiment, each of the geo-dispersed disk drives602A-N may be associated with a storage pool that supports the erasurecode storage policy. In yet another embodiment, each of thegeo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N may have an associated tag indicatingsupport for the erasure code storage policy.

Further, in one embodiment, the object scheduler 604 may monitor each ofthe geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N. In another embodiment, the objectscheduler 604 may request data from each of the geo-dispersed diskdrives 602A-N. For example, the object scheduler 604 may request one ormore disk health parameters, as well as a number of available outerpartition storage blocks, from each of the geo-dispersed disk drives602A-N. In yet another embodiment, the object scheduler 604 may storethe requested data.

Table 1 illustrates exemplary disk health parameters that may beretrieved from one or more of the geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N, inaccordance with one embodiment. Of course, it should be noted that theexemplary disk health parameters shown in Table 1 are set forth forillustrative purposes only, and thus should not be construed as limitingin any manner.

TABLE 1 Storage_pool1 = {policy: 16/9; disk1: {raw_read_error_rate:‘1’, - - -, throughtput_performance: ′500′}, disk2:{raw_read_error_rate: ‘10’, - - -, throughtput_performance: ′5′}, disk3:{raw_read_error_rate: ‘100’, - - -, throughtput_performance:′100′}, - - - disk16: {raw_read_error_rate: ‘25567’, - - -,throughtput_performance: ′50′} } Storage_pool2 = {policy: 12/8; disk1:{raw_read_error_rate: ‘0’, - - -, throughtput_performance: ′1000′},disk2: { raw_read_error_rate: ‘1’, - - -, throughtput_performance:′50′}, disk3: { raw_read_error_rate: ‘67776’, - - -,throughtput_performance: ′0′}, - - - disk12: {raw_read_error_rate:‘100’, - - -, throughtput_performance: ′500′} }

Table 2 illustrates exemplary available outer partition storage blocksthat may be retrieved from one or more of the geo-dispersed disk drives602A-N, in accordance with one embodiment. Of course, it should be notedthat the exemplary available outer partition storage blocks shown inTable 2 are set forth for illustrative purposes only, and thus shouldnot be construed as limiting in any manner.

TABLE 2 Storage_pool1 = {policy: 16/9; outer_tracks: {disk1: ‘yes’,disk2: ‘no’, - - -, disk16: ‘yes’}} Storage_poo12 = {policy: 12/8;outer_tracks: { disk1: ‘no’, disk2: ‘no’, - - -, disk12: ‘yes’}}

As shown in Table 2, for one or more of the plurality of geo-disperseddisk drives 602A-N, an availability check may calculate the number ofblocks needed to write erasure code fragments corresponding to an objectand may check for the number of available OUTER track blocks. In oneembodiment, there may be a significant speed gap between the outerpartition vs. the inner partition within a storage disk (e.g., a speedratio may be 100/60 (outer/inner), such that a drive that is capable of120 MB/sec on the outer tracks might yield 72 MB/sec on the innertracks).

Further still, an object notification policy generator 608 is incommunication with the object scheduler 604. In one embodiment, theobject notification policy generator 608 may access the data from eachof the geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N that was retrieved by the objectscheduler 604 (e.g., the one or more disk health parameters, the numberof available outer partition storage blocks, etc.). The objectnotification policy generator 608 may then use the accessed data todetermine an object notification policy.

In one embodiment, the object notification policy may indicate athreshold number of erasure code fragments that need to be stored by theplurality of geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N for a file within theunified file and object storage system before initiating anobjectization process on the file through the filesystem layer 606. Forexample, based on the above collected details, an algorithm may firstconfirm that the namespace is used for unified and object workload, andin response to such confirmation, an objectization notification policymay dynamically determine a number of erasure code fragments that aresufficient to perform objectization (e.g., unified file and objectaccess) based on the reliability of disks calculated via SMARTparameters and an availability of OUTER disk partitions.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary framework 700 for sending an eventnotification 702 to an objectization process 704 via a messaging queue706, according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, a plurality ofgeo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N is in communication with theobjectization process 704 via a filesystem layer 606. When a file iscreated within the framework, the file may be fragmented into erasurecode fragments, and the erasure code fragments may be stored in one ormore of the plurality of geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N.

As the one or more geo-dispersed disk drives 602A-N successfully storean erasure code fragment of the file, a count may be increased. Thecount may be compared to a threshold number of erasure code fragmentsthat need to be stored by the plurality of geo-dispersed disk drives602A-N for a file within the unified file and object storage systembefore initiating an objectization process on the file through thefilesystem layer 606.

Once the count equals the threshold number, an object_close( ) eventnotification 702 may be sent to a messaging queue 706. The messagingqueue 706 may feed object_close( ) event notifications to theobjectization process 704. When the object_close( ) event notificationis received by the objectization process 704 for the file, theobjectization process 704 may convert the object into a file.

In this way, the object_close( ) event notification may be sent to themessaging queue when the count meets the threshold, instead of when allerasure code fragments are stored in the plurality of geo-dispersed diskdrives 602A-N. This may increase a performance of the exemplaryframework 700 by reducing a time to complete objectization for a file.

In one embodiment, for every new incoming object PUT request, theobjectization notification policy may be based on the calculatedreliable erasure code fragments. Such policy may be greater than anerasure code reconstruction factor and may be less than a full amount oferasure code fragments. Upon successful writes of the calculatedreliable erasure code fragments, the algorithm may initiate anobject_close ( ) from the filesystem to an application (e.g., theobjectizer process, etc.). Upon receiving an object_close ( ) message,the objectizer process may trigger the rest of the tasks involved inenabling object access to a file created via a file interface (e.g.,POSIX®, NFS®, CIFS®, etc.).

In another embodiment, consider a 16/9 policy, where a number offragments needed for erasure code reconstruction at any given point oftime is 7. The objectization notification policy based on the SMART andavailably of outer tracks may determine 10 as the reliable count. Uponsuccessful write completion of 10 erasure code fragments, the algorithmmay send an object_close ( ) acknowledgement from the filesystem to anobjectizer process.

Upon receiving the object_close ( ) message, the objectizer process maytrigger the remaining tasks involved in enabling object access to a filecreated via a file interface (e.g., POSIX®, NFS®, CIFS®, etc.). Withthis approach, the objectizer process may be initiated after 10successful erasure code fragments and may not need to wait until 16erasure code fragments are written, which may enable faster objectaccess for files created via the file interface.

Table 3 illustrates exemplary operations that enable object access for acreated file inode, in accordance with one embodiment. Of course, itshould be noted that the exemplary operations shown in Table 3 are setforth for illustrative purposes only, and thus should not be construedas limiting in any manner.

TABLE 3 1. Namespace scan to identify the new inode creation and itsabsolute path or a filesystem clustered notification service whichidentifies and notifies about new inode creation along with its path. 2.Obtained inode, path information is pushed to a messaging queue andwhere a consumer process is defined/listens to the messaging queue. Theconsumer process responsibility is to pull the inode, path details andperform Step-3 and Step-4. 3. Updating the respective container andaccount databases with the details (like name, size, ETag, ACL's,creation time, content-type, modified date etc.) of newly created file(via file interface). 4. Appending the calculated object extendedattributes (xattr's like - “X- Object-Meta-Mtime”,“X-Object-Content-Type”, “X-Object-Size”, “X-Object-ETag”) to the newlycreated file (via file interface).

As shown in Table 3, for this kind of implementation, when applied in ageo-dispersed erasure coded cluster with billions of files, the inodescan and the above mentioned tasks may require much more execution timewhich may directly affect the amount of time to enable object access.This execution time may be reduced by utilizing a comparison to thethreshold number of erasure code fragments.

Now referring to FIG. 8, a flowchart of a method 800 for identifyingdisk data is shown according to one embodiment. The method 800 may beperformed in accordance with the present invention in any of theenvironments depicted in FIGS. 1-3, 6, and 7, among others, in variousembodiments. Of course, more or less operations than those specificallydescribed in FIG. 8 may be included in method 800, as would beunderstood by one of skill in the art upon reading the presentdescriptions.

Each of the steps of the method 800 may be performed by any suitablecomponent of the operating environment. For example, in variousembodiments, the method 800 may be partially or entirely performed byone or more servers, computers, or some other device having one or moreprocessors therein. The processor, e.g., processing circuit(s), chip(s),and/or module(s) implemented in hardware and/or software, and preferablyhaving at least one hardware component may be utilized in any device toperform one or more steps of the method 800. Illustrative processorsinclude, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), etc., combinations thereof, or any other suitablecomputing device known in the art.

As shown in FIG. 8, method 800 may initiate with operation 802, where anerasure code storage policy is received at an unified file and objectstorage system. Additionally, method 800 may proceed with operation 804,where all disks within the unified file and object storage system thatare tagged with the erasure code storage policy are identified. Forexample, each disk within the unified file and object storage system mayinclude a tag indicating an erasure code storage policy that the diskparticipates in.

Further, method 800 may proceed with operation 806, where SMARTparameters are monitored for all the identified disks. Further still,method 800 may proceed with operation 808, where enclosure numbers ofeach of the identified disks are monitored. In one embodiment, theenclosure numbers may be monitored to identify any replacement of one ormore of the identified disks.

Also, method 800 may proceed with operation 810, where an availabilityof outer partition storage blocks are determined for each of theidentified disks. In addition, method 800 may proceed with operation812, where a number of erasure code fragments to be stored for a filewithin the unified file and object storage system before initiating anobjectization process on the file is determined, utilizing the monitoredSMART parameters, the monitored enclosure numbers, and the availabilityof outer partition storage blocks for each of the identified disks.

In this way, an algorithm in an erasure coded unified file and objectstorage environment may dynamically determine the number of reliableerasure code fragments that are sufficient for objectization based ondisk SMART parameters and availability of OUTER disk partitions. Forexample, in a 16/9 erasure code cluster, the objectization process mayoriginally be triggered only after the 16 erasure code fragments arewritten successfully, but through implementation of the abovedevelopments, the objectization process may be triggered aftersuccessful 11 write completion, where the 11 fragments are decided basedon the disk health and outer track availability for writing.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein includes anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which includes one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

Moreover, a system according to various embodiments may include aprocessor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor,the logic being configured to perform one or more of the process stepsrecited herein. By integrated with, what is meant is that the processorhas logic embedded therewith as hardware logic, such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), a FPGA, etc. By executable by theprocessor, what is meant is that the logic is hardware logic; softwarelogic such as firmware, part of an operating system, part of anapplication program; etc., or some combination of hardware and softwarelogic that is accessible by the processor and configured to cause theprocessor to perform some functionality upon execution by the processor.Software logic may be stored on local and/or remote memory of any memorytype, as known in the art. Any processor known in the art may be used,such as a software processor module and/or a hardware processor such asan ASIC, a FPGA, a central processing unit (CPU), an integrated circuit(IC), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc.

It will be clear that the various features of the foregoing systemsand/or methodologies may be combined in any way, creating a plurality ofcombinations from the descriptions presented above.

It will be further appreciated that embodiments of the present inventionmay be provided in the form of a service deployed on behalf of acustomer to offer service on demand.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example only, and notlimitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of a preferred embodiment shouldnot be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, butshould be defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:identifying an erasure code storage policy for an unified file andobject storage system; determining a plurality of storage disksassociated with the erasure code storage policy; retrieving disk healthparameters for each of the plurality of storage disks; identifying anumber of available outer partition storage blocks for each of theplurality of storage disks; and determining a number of erasure codefragments to be stored for a file within the unified file and objectstorage system before initiating an objectization process on the file,utilizing the disk health parameters for each of the plurality ofstorage disks and the number of available outer partition storage blocksfor each of the plurality of storage disks.
 2. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of storage disksincludes a hard disk drive (HDD) located within the unified file andobject storage system.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein each of the plurality of storage disks is located within astorage pool of the unified file and object storage system, where thestorage pool is associated with the erasure code storage policy.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the diskhealth parameters includes requesting disk health parameters from amonitoring system included in each of the storage disks, where themonitoring system includes a self-monitoring, analysis and reportingtechnology (SMART) system.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein the disk health parameters are selected from a groupconsisting of a read error rate, a seek error rate, a reallocatedsectors count, a throughput performance, a spin retry count, a reportednumber of uncorrectable errors, and a command timeout.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the outer partitionstorage blocks are located at or beyond a predetermined distance from aspindle of the storage disk.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim1, wherein identifying the number of available outer partition storageblocks includes determining a number of storage blocks necessary tostore an erasure code fragment within a storage disk, and determining,for each of the storage disks, whether a number of outer partitionstorage blocks available for the storage disk is equal to or greaterthan the number of storage blocks necessary to store the erasure codefragment within the storage disk.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the number of erasure code fragments includes a subsetof a total plurality of erasure code fragments, where the subsetincludes a minimum number of erasure code fragments to be stored on theplurality of storage disks within the unified file and object storagesystem in order to perform the objectization process for the file. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein disk healthparameters indicating that the one or more of the plurality of storagedisks are healthy reduce a number of erasure code fragments to be storedbefore initiating the objectization process, when compared to diskhealth parameters indicating that the one or more of the plurality ofstorage disks are unhealthy.
 10. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein a greater number of available outer partition storageblocks reduces a number of erasure code fragments to be stored beforeinitiating the objectization process, when compared to a lesser numberof available outer partition storage blocks.
 11. A computer programproduct for unified file and unified file and object storage, thecomputer program product comprising a computer readable storage mediumhaving program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computerreadable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the programinstructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to performa method comprising: identifying an erasure code storage policy for anunified file and object storage system, utilizing the processor;determining a plurality of storage disks associated with the erasurecode storage policy, utilizing the processor; retrieving disk healthparameters for each of the plurality of storage disks, utilizing theprocessor; identifying a number of available outer partition storageblocks for each of the plurality of storage disk, utilizing theprocessor; and determining, utilizing the processor, a number of erasurecode fragments to be stored for a file within the unified file andobject storage system before initiating an objectization process on thefile, utilizing the disk health parameters for each of the plurality ofstorage disks and the number of available outer partition storage blocksfor each of the plurality of storage disks.
 12. The computer programproduct of claim 11, wherein each of the plurality of storage disksincludes a hard disk drive (HDD) located within the unified file andobject storage system.
 13. The computer program product of claim 11,wherein each of the plurality of storage disks is located within astorage pool of the unified file and object storage system, where thestorage pool is associated with the erasure code storage policy.
 14. Thecomputer program product of claim 11, wherein retrieving the disk healthparameters includes requesting disk health parameters from a monitoringsystem included in each of the storage disks, where the monitoringsystem includes a self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology(SMART) system.
 15. The computer program product of claim 11, whereinthe disk health parameters are selected from a group consisting of aread error rate, a seek error rate, a reallocated sectors count, athroughput performance, a spin retry count, a reported number ofuncorrectable errors, and a command timeout.
 16. The computer programproduct of claim 11, wherein the outer partition storage blocks arelocated at or beyond a predetermined distance from a spindle of thestorage disk.
 17. The computer program product of claim 11, whereinidentifying the number of available outer partition storage blocksincludes determining a number of storage blocks necessary to store anerasure code fragment within a storage disk, and determining, for eachof the storage disks, whether a number of outer partition storage blocksavailable for the storage disk is equal to or greater than the number ofstorage blocks necessary to store the erasure code fragment within thestorage disk.
 18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein thenumber of erasure code fragments includes a subset of a total pluralityof erasure code fragments, where the subset includes a minimum number oferasure code fragments to be stored on the plurality of storage diskswithin the unified file and object storage system in order to performthe objectization process for the file.
 19. The computer program productof claim 11, wherein disk health parameters indicating that the one ormore of the plurality of storage disks are healthy reduce a number oferasure code fragments to be stored before initiating the objectizationprocess, when compared to disk health parameters indicating that the oneor more of the plurality of storage disks are unhealthy.
 20. A system,comprising: a processor; and logic integrated with the processor,executable by the processor, or integrated with and executable by theprocessor, the logic being configured to: identify an erasure codestorage policy for an unified file and object storage system; determinea plurality of storage disks associated with the erasure code storagepolicy; retrieve disk health parameters for each of the plurality ofstorage disks; identify a number of available outer partition storageblocks for each of the plurality of storage disks; and determine anumber of erasure code fragments to be stored for a file within theunified file and object storage system before initiating anobjectization process on the file, utilizing the disk health parametersfor each of the plurality of storage disks and the number of availableouter partition storage blocks for each of the plurality of storagedisks.